Winter's Bloom
by Bookworm Scatterseed
Summary: Applejack wakes up to a world that she doesn't recognize. The once lush fields are barren and empty, and strange and terrifying creatures roam the landscape. The inhabitants of Ponyville have gone underground to hide from this threat and - somehow - fight back.
1. Chapter 1

Applejack felt a chill over her body. She tried to wrap her legs around her for warmth, but the very motion instantly sent lightning bolts of pain up her spine.  
Her eyes were closed, and she wasn't sure of where she was, or how she had gotten there. She felt a throbbing pain in her temple, and imagined she must have been knocked over the head by something, but she couldn't remember what or how.  
She tried opening her eyes. She expected stabbing pain from the too-bright light, but instead she was met with only darkness. For a brief moment, she wasn't even sure she had actually opened her eyes at all, until she began to be able to make out faint pinpricks of light, blurry at first, that eventually she realized to be the stars.

She dared to move her head a bit, thankfully not triggering any more lightning bolts in the process, but was unable to find the moon.

Maybe it's behind the trees, she thought, then immediately chided herself. I'm stuck out in the middle of Celestia-knows-where with no idea how I got here, and I'm worried about the moon? What's wrong with me?  
She finally decided that she wasn't going to get anywhere just lying around and, despite the agony she expected to have to endure, she pushed herself to her hooves.

Amazingly, other than a pounding headache, she experienced none of the pain she had previously, which brought a small smile to her face. A sharp gust of cold wind wiped it right back off again.

I better find some shelter and get a fire goin', and right quick too if I don't want t' freeze out here.

She looked around her, but couldn't make out much of her surroundings in the moonless night. She could tell she was in a field of some kind. The ground was sparsely covered in grass, but the soil itself was cracked and frozen. She couldn't make out anything on the horizon, save for the ominous blankness where she gathered mountains must lie. She wasn't sure what direction Ponyville lay in, so she decided to follow the North Star and hope she came across some form of civilization. She wasn't hungry now, but she knew that wouldn't last. So, she set off, eyes on the ground to make sure didn't trip over anything. The ground seemed smooth, though, and free from debris, so she was able to make good time, despite the darkness.

She had been wandering for several hours, heading due north, as the terrain began to grow rougher. The sun was beginning to rise, and she was grateful for it, as she could see that the flat terrain soon gave way to rocky cliffs and crags. She sat for a moment, resting her tired hooves and waiting for the sun to rise so she could take stock of her options. The mountains weren't familiar to her, even in the growing sunlight, but she could see a narrow ravine cutting through two rocky peaks.

As good a path as any, I reckon. There's nothin' but desert on this side of the mountains, maybe it'll be greener on t'other

She wasn't sure of her own reasoning, but the notion gave her a small glimmer of hope, so she trotted off towards the ravine, hoping to, if nothing else, find a stream to quench her thirst from, if not a path to greener regions.

The sun was barely over the horizon, and the dark shadows from the ravine's walls clad the passage in a deep darkness. There was a stream, though it was shrunken and muddy, and Applejack decided to wait for clearer water. She wasn't desperately thirsty, not yet. But she worried that, as the sun rose, the air might heat and cause her to regret not drinking when she had the chance. Nonetheless, she'd seen the effect that unclean water had on cattle at times, and she decided that it wasn't worth the risk in the long run.

the ravine started out smooth and shallow, but it wasn't long before the walls reached high above her, and the rocks littering the ravine floor began to grow in size and number. It was only when she began to hear her hoofsteps echoing back at her from the ravine walls that she noticed the eerie silence that had followed her since she woke. There were no birds singing, no insects chirping. She hated to sound cliche, but it was too quiet. The silence began to unnerve her, but she clenched her teeth and pressed onward, the promise of cooler fields on the other side of the mountains urging her forward.

Suddenly, she stopped short. Her hoofsteps bounced back at her, and as the last echoes faded, she strained her ears against the silence. Nothing, other than the lazy trickle of water from the stream, but for a second there she thought she had heard... Something.

Shaking her head, and blaming her imagination, she pressed onward. There! Again! She definitely heard a sound, hoofsteps that, while similar to her own echoes, definitely did NOT belong to her. She whipped her head around, looking up at the high cliff tops, trying to find the source. She thought about calling out to the pony who was keeping itself hidden, but something in the pit of her stomach told her to hold her tongue, to not give herself away.

She continued at a measured pace, listening carefully to the sound of the echoes and trying to discern which belonged to her, and which to her mysterious fellow traveller. Or travelers.

She shivered. The wind began to pick up, and the sun, still behind the walls of the canyon, did little to keep her warm. The wind began to howl around her, drowning out the sounds that she had been straining to hear.

Something is wrong.

She felt it in her bones, though she couldn't say why the wind should unnerve her so. There was something about this place that just felt... wrong. She decided that she didn't want to be in this canyon any longer than she had to be, and began to pick up the pace. As she did, the wind grew as well, and she had to grab a hold of her hat to keep it from blowing off.

This ain't right. she thought, she saw icicles begin to form on the branches of the thick brush on either side. She locked her eyes, and then she saw it.

ahead of her, rearing up on its hind legs, was a.. Thing. Pony shaped, It appeared to be made of solid ice, but it moved with a wispy fluidity, and it was headed straight for her.

Applejack decided not to wait to see if the shape rushing towards her was friendly, and turned to run the opposite direction. The floor below her began to ice over, and Applejack found it hard to keep her footing, slipping and sliding on the suddenly frozen ground. She looked back in terror, and found herself taking a dive onto the frozen surface. The thing was much closer now, and she could feel the heat in the canyon drain into its body. She looked on with terror, unable to move, as the icy shape bored down on her.

She closed her eyes, bracing for the inevitable... When a burst of heat exploded in front of her. She could hear distant shouts, and the hair on her back singed as another ray of heat hit directly behind her. She rolled to her back and looked behind her, just in time to see a third beam, bright yellow and painful to look at, striking the icy figure directly in the chest. It let out an ear-piercing cry, and melted almost instantly into water that splashed over her and soaked her fur. She looked back, and saw the shapes that had been trailing her. High up on the ravine wall, their details were hard to make out, but she recognized them as ponies, two earth ponies and a unicorn, each with an odd array of metal strapped to their back, staring down at her. As she watched, they slung ropes off their back and began an odd rappelling motion down the canyon wall. Still wary, Applejack braced herself to run, just in case these ponies that had saved her life turned out to have less than noble intentions.

As they drew nearer, she could see that they were dirty and ragged. The weapons on their backs looked cobbled together. The two earth ponies carried what look like large tanks, connected via a series of tubes and valves to nozzles strapped to their fore legs. The unicorn's weapon looked slightly different, with a series of wires connected to a cone that covered her horn. The two earth ponies looked... Familiar, somehow. The first one on the ground, gray with a silver mane and a decorative spoon as a cutie mark and a wicked scar over one eye, looked at her intently.

"Are you crazy, coming out he on your own like this? What unit do you belong to?" the other two ponies finished their rappelling and faced either end of the ravine, scanning for more danger, their weapons held to their faces.

"What was that...thing?" Applejack waved off the barrage of questions, still unsure of what was happening. The lead pony just stared at her.

"Did you get hit in the head?" the unicorn spoke up now.

"Captain, ice clouds, to the south." the grey pony grabbed Applejack's hoof and started heading up the canyon.

"We'll let the General al with you. Now we need to hurry, if those Windigoes caught wind of us we won't have much time!" the pink earth pony took point, leading them along the stream, weapon held at the ready. The gray mare pulled Applejack onward,and the yellow unicorn took up the rear, casting worried glances to the plain and the dark clouds Applejack could see forming in the distance, drawing ever nearer.

Applejack didn't even realize they had arrived at their destination at first. The ponies that had been flanking her, vigilant for more attacks, the entire way, pulled up to stop for what Applejack thought was just a quick break, until much to her surprise the rock of the cliff face opened up, and two more ponies, each holding the same weapons as the ones who had escorted her, shot her a questioning look.  
"Another refugee. Found her in the ravine." The guards accepted the captain's explanation, and let the four of them in, quickly sealing the cave entrance behind them. They trotted down a low tunnel before entering a large cavern, filled with ponies, mostly wretched-looking refugees like herself. She saw a few families, but mostly younger ponies, some keeping themselves busy, cooking or cleaning or chatting amongst themselves, but most of them just sat there, a haunted look in their eyes. Applejack couldn't stand to look at those for very long; it looked like the very fire had been extinguished in them, and all they were doing now was surviving.

The smell in the cave was intense, smoke and sweat and other, even less pleasant odors, hung in the air in a mist. What little ventilation the cave had barely served to keep the air from running out, but did nothing to dispel the evidence of too many ponies in too enclosed a space.

She gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat as the thought that had be clawing at the edges of her mind - that something terrible had happened to her hometown - resurfaced with a vengeance. She had managed to reject it so far, but the evidence now was undeniable. Something had happened, she was sure of it. And while she didn't recognize many of the ponies in the cave, she caught glimpses of one or two familiar faces that confirmed her worst fears.

The ponies who had rescued her paid little mind to the ponies in the cave, leading her instead straight through to another tunnel, then another, before pulling up to a well-lit room barred by a crude wooden door. The lead unicorn rapped on it three times, then took a step back as it swung open.

"Captain Cake to see the general."

"Proceed." The pegasus on the other side of the door stepped aside, and let them pass into the room on the other side, which looked to Applejack to be some sort of command center.  
"So, this is the pony Lieutenant Spoon was talking about?" the pony who had let them in, a bright blue filly, was looking at Applejack with a stare that made her slightly uncomfortable.

Spoon... why do I know that...?

The reality hit her like Big Mac hitting a tree during applebuck season. The reason the grey pony looked so familiar, the hair, the cutie mark. But how...? That pony is at least in her early twenties. There's no way that that's Silver Spoon!  
But even in her denial she knew it was true. Everything about her, from the way she held her head to her gait... She knew this somehow was the same filly who her little Apple Bloom went to school with, just much, much older.  
With this realization came another - the unicorn who brought her here had the same coloration and name as Carrot Cake, the Cakes' little filly.

She gulped hard as she heard the hoofsteps coming towards her. A feeling deep in the pit of her stomach told her exactly what to expect when she turned around, but she still didn't want to believe it could be true. She shut her eyes and shook her head as the hoofsteps stopped just behind her.  
"This is her?" That voice... it can't be... this isn't happening...

"This is her. Same cutie mark, see? And she looks just like she did in the pictures."

She finally willed herself to look at the pony whose drawl she could never mistake, not in a million years, even if the pitch was much lower than it should have been.  
"Applejack? Sis, is that you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Winter's Bloom by Tosus

Applejack stared at the pony standing in front of her, not quite wanting to believe that what she saw could actually be real. There was no doubt in her mind that this was, in fact, her dear sister Apple Bloom - even if the mane and coat color were the same, all it took was a glance at her eyes for her to recognize her - but everything else about her seemed so... impossible.

For one, she was older. Much, much older; perhaps in her early thirties, though rough living had obviously taken its toll on her, making it a guess at best. Gone was the neat mane and jaunty bow that she remembered, to be replaced by a no-nonsense, almost military mane cut topped by an olive cap. She was wearing an olive colored uniform, neatly pressed if a bit frayed around the edges, and was currently sizing Applejack up with a wary glance.

"This is supposed t' be my sister?" The pony - Silver Spoon, Applejack almost had to remind herself - gulped audibly, but answered quickly.

"We found her out in the ravine, almost got run over by one of _them_. I... never knew her that well, but she looks exactly like I remember."

"That's the problem." Apple Bloom circled Applejack as she watched, mouth open, unable to form words. "She looks _exactly_ like I remember. Same age, same _weight_," she poked a hoof into Applejack's side, which resulted in a slightly annoyed look from the pony who really didn't see what her weight had to do with it and besides she was perfectly happy with her weight she ate healthy and exercised regularly thank you very much!

"She even smells like she came fresh out of the tub." Now Applejack was starting to _really_ get annoyed. Apple Bloom looked back to Silver Spoon.

"Do we have any reports on the Changelings? Have they taken a side in the conflict?"

Silver Spoon glanced at a pony standing just behind Apple Bloom - whom Applejack recognized as Berry Punch's daughter, though she was aged as well - who shook her head slowly and replied.

"They are still neutral. If she's a Changeling, she's a rogue agent."

"Now wait jus' a cotton-pickin' moment here!" Applejack couldn't contain herself any longer. "What's all this 'bout 'Changelings' this and 'conflict' that? Who are you ponies? Where am I? And why in the name of Celestia's frilly yellow bonnet do you look so much like my applebuckin' sister?"

This elicited a grim smile from Apple Bloom. "That sure sounds like her all right." She levelled a serious gaze at Applejack.

"When I was five, y'all grounded me for a week. Why?"

Applejack had to think for a moment. "You got into Carrot Top's garden an' forgot t' close the gate, an' all the rabbits got in and ruined her carrots."

"What was my favorite toy when I was growin' up?"

Applejack started to get a little nervous at the interrogation. "Your stuffed penguin. Y'all used t' play wi..."

"What was the last thing Ma said to you?"

Applejack looked down, staggered by the sudden onrush of the memory.

"She told me... she told me..." A tear came to her eye, and her eyes darted around the room. Then she sighed.

"She yelled at me, asked me why I couldn't be more like my brother. I ain't never told that to nopony 'cept..." She looked up. "That really is you, ain't it Apple Bloom?"

She felt the glare from the grey pony on her side. "That's General Bloom to you!" Applejack winced, but Apple Bloom just glared at Silver Spoon, then motioned for Applejack to follow her.  
She led her through a door in the back of the room into a private office. It was small, a closet really, with barely enough room for a desk and two worn-looking cushions on the ground. Apple Bloom circled to the other side of her desk, idly pushed some papers to the side, and sat down. Applejack followed suit.

"Sis, I don't know how t' tell you this, but... you've been... missin'. For about fifteen years."

"Missin'? What in tarnation do y'all mean '_missin_''? I ain't gone nowhere! I jus' woke up in this field and..."

"Sis, I ain't gonna lie to you." Apple Bloom's expression was one of resignation. "I don't know where you been hidin' or why you ain't got no older, but things have been bad. Real bad. The report said y'all barely escaped one of _them_, so y'all know what we're up agin'..."

Applejack ínterrupted, forcing a smile. "First off, sis, how dare ya come back into your private office and not even offer me a hug!" She was at least a little relieved to see Apple Bloom return it, if in a pained manner. Glancing at the closed door, she slowly stood up, and crossed around the desk again to wrap her sister in a warm embrace.

The feel of her against her skin almost startled Applejack. She wasn't sure if she hadn't let herself believe until now that she was real, or whether it was the tautness of the muscles underneath her skin that caught her so off guard, but feeling the warmth of her body, the scent of weeks-old dirt and sweat in her coat, her breath on the nape of her neck, somehow startled Applejack out of the haze she felt she had been walking in since she woke up in that field.

"Better." They released the embrace, and Apple Bloom stood where she was, rather than returning to her side of the desk. They were mere inches apart, and Applejack had time to take in every detail about her younger - well, her _formerly _younger - sister.

Though she clearly kept her fur well groomed, Applejack suspected that baths were a luxury the refugee army could ill afford. Her fur was the same color as it had been, and Applejack suspected that her military fatigues hid a cutie mark, which again triggered a memory of her as a filly that she quickly suppressed. Her face looked tired, but a glimmer of hope sparkled in her eyes. Applejack suddenly felt a burst of pride swelling in her chest at the thought of her little sister as a leader, keeping a cool head in a time of crisis. The warmth of that feeling almost drove away the coldness in the pit of her stomach that had formed when she was first attacked by the beast. Almost.

"I reckon y'all have a lot of questions," they both said, nearly perfectly in unison. "You first," they continued, then chuckled, their smiles genuine this time.

"You start" Applejack sat down again, letting her sister take the lead.

"Alrighty then, first off, where you been? How are you still the same age?"

"That's just the thing." Applejack pawed at the ground, flattening her ears. "I don't reckon I know. One minute I'm sippin' cider on the back porch, the next I wake up in a desert with no memory of what happened and with a wicked hangover."

"So y'all didn't abandon us in our time o' need, leaving Ponyville and all of Equestria to fall to _them_. It was all a big misunderstandin'?" There was an edge to Apple Blooms tone that was reflected in her eyes, and Applejack couldn't help but wince, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Y'all know that's not true, Apple Bloom. I ain't no runner. I'm a fighter through and through, like... well, like y'all are. If I had know Ponyville was in danger I would've been there fightin' with my last breath. Y'all know that!"

Apple Bloom sighed. "You can't imagine what it was like. They came out of nowhere and, jus' when we needed you the most, y'all up'n vanished. And not just you, Twilight, Rainbow Dash... Anypony who might have been able to turn the tide before the attack jus' disappeared."

"Wait." Applejack's mind reeled at the notion. "Twilight and Rainbow Dash went missin' too?"

Apple Bloom nodded. "We thought maybe they had been ponynapped by _them_ before the attack, but now I ain't so sure."

"What about Rarity? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie?" She chewed on her lip, afraid of the answer but watched Apple Bloom's head nod at the mention of each of her friends' names.

"The Elements of Harmony. That's why we thought y'all had been abducted, to make sure you couldn't be used as a weapon to stop _them_."

"And what about Big Macintosh? Granny Smith?" The expression that crossed Apple Bloom's face made her instantly wish she could take the questions back. Apple Bloom's face turned expressionless.

"Dead." Her voice was flat, though her eyes betrayed a deep sadness. "Big Macintosh was at the front of the herd defendin' Ponyville. He didn' stand a chance. And Granny..." Her voice trailed off, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder, the unreality of the whole situation the only thing keeping her own tears at bay.

"When we made the decision t' abandon Ponyville, she... She didn't want t' leave. She said she'd jus' slow us down. When we tried to make her, to drag her from our house, she... she..." Applejack put a hoof on Apple Bloom's mouth, shaking her head slowly. Apple Bloom looked relieved, but pressed on.

"They're dead, Applejack. They're all dead. I couldn' save them. I tried but... I jus' couldn't." She glared at Applejack, suddenly angry. "Where _were_ you? When we needed you the most, my own sister, where _were_ you?" With this she shoved Applejack away, tears flowing freely. Then, she shook her head, sniffled, and slowly stepped back to the other side of the desk.

"That was fifteen years ago. _They_ took over Equestria in less than a year. Canterlot held out for a while longer, but, without the Elements, the Princesses could only put up so much of a fight."

"Who's _they_, exactly?" Apple Bloom sighed.

"You saw them. the... _Windigoes._"

Applejack laughed. "You mean them creatures from the Hearth's Warmin' story? Those ain't nothin' but a foal's tale, they ain't real!" Her voice trailed off slightly on an upward note, unsure if she truly believed what she was saying.

Apple Bloom levelled her a gaze. "They're real all right. And they were here in Equestria before we ponies ever were. An' now they want it back. We've been holdin' out in caves and hidey holes all over Equestria, fightin' back best we can. But... so many ponies didn' make it..."

Applejack trotted around the desk and threw her forelimb around her. "Shh, sugarcube. You're still here. You're still fightin'. That's all that matters." She could feel the shaking of Apple Blooms body, though, to her credit, she kept any tears from her face.

"I missed you so much, sis. We needed you. Whenever I was in doubt I used t' ask myself, 'what would AJ do?'" Apple Bloom looked into her eyes. "I hope I done you proud, sis."

Applejack nuzzled her gently. "That, and so much more sugarcube. Y'all have no idea."

Apple Bloom straightened up. "That's 'General Sugarcube' to you!" A defiant gleam entered her eye, and Applejack smiled.

"Yes ma'am!" She threw a quick salute, then giggled as Apple Bloom let out a small laugh.

"C'mon, AJ. Let's get y'all some quarters an' some grub. We got some catchin' up to do."


	3. Chapter 3

Winter's Bloom by Tosus

Apple Bloom led Applejack to out of the command center and into the winding mass of caverns. The bare rock of the tunnel wall was smooth, but obviously hoof-cut. Applejack could only imagine the circumstances that these tunnels were dug under. Apple Bloom caught her gaze and began explaining.  
"We found these caves a few weeks after we lost Ponyville. We were a few dozen ponies then, afraid, aone. After a while we started t' send out scoutin' teams and discovered more pockets o' survivors. After a while, it started gettin' pretty crowded in here."  
They exited the tunnel into a large cavern, stalactites decorating the ceiling making it obviously natural, unlike the tunnel they just exited from. There were a few ponies here, a couple of pegusi attending to what looked like a small mushroom garden. Over in a corner, a few earth ponies were listening to a unicorn reading from a tattered book.  
"We tried to build a life in here. The mushrooms grow down here even without light, but we still have a few hidden gardens in the area that we raid for fruits'n veggies. It's dangerous though, we could be cut off from our food supply if _they _ever find them."  
Applejack gulped involuntarily at the mention of their foe. Apple Bloom took little notice, and instead crossed the cavern and led her to another tunnel, barely wide enough for two ponies to stand abreast, and illuminated only by the greenish glow of bioluminescent moss. The tunnel turned slightly to the left and downward, before opening up once again into a wide cavern, containing a few trestle tables surrounding an open fire in a brazier.  
"Cookin' is tricky. We can only start the fire up at night, so _they_ don't see th' smoke. Luckliy, near's we can tell, _they_ don't have a sense o' smell, so cookin' at night is still fairly safe." Apple Bloom looked up, and Applejack follows her gaze. The cavern ceiling, mostly hidden in shadows, sported a narrow chimney at the top with a wooden cover, currently pulled back, that could be manipulated by ropes and pulleys to cover the hole when not needed. Then she looked back to the brazier, seeing a lilac-colored unicorn levitating over a blackened grate, setting it atop the fire in preparation to cook. When the unicorn saw, Apple Bloom, she stiffened and gave a hasty salute, which Apple Bloom returned, before she went back to her business.  
"Can I get y'all anythin' They jus' started cookin' for everypony, but if you want somethin' cold I'm sure Cookie can rustle somethin' up for y'all."  
Applejack nodded, appreciatively. "Maybe a salad or somethin'. I feel like I haven't eaten in days." Apple Bloom gave her an odd look, but led her to a side cavern separated by a wooden door. Inside was another chamber, almost as large as the last one, with the sides carved to make natural countertops. Several earth ponies and unicorns, and even one pegasus, were already hard at work chopping vegetables and preparing the evening's meal. Once again, they all flashed Apple Bloom a quick salute as they see her, then return to their work as she salutes in return.  
"I will never get used t' that." Applejack shook her head, and Apple Bloom stared at her.  
"Used t' what?" After a beat, she cringed a bit. "Oh, the salutin'? Yeah... I never told 'em t' do that. That was all Lieutenant Spoon's doin'." She blushed a little, and suddenly Applejack once again saw her little filly of a sister standing next to her, a wooden plate of carrots and lettuce in her mouth. She trotted towards a small wooden table in one corner of the kitchen and sat down, out of the way of the ponies going about their cooking duties.  
Applejack followed her, sitting across from her and gratefully accepting the plate from her sister. The vegetables were wilted and pale, the kind she would have thrown away if she had found them in her garden back home. _Home._ The word echoed in her mind, as she remembered visit Harvest Gold's stall at the market to get her carrots, always the best in Ponyville. _But that was a long time ago, in a different world._  
She smiled weakly as she ate the salad, while Apple Bloom regarded her, deep in thought. Looking around, the ponies working in the kitchen seemed thin, but not malnourished. Though one thing they all seemed to have in common were scars along their bodies. Applejack guessed that not a pony among them escaped combat at one time or another. At least the hopeless, empty look she had seen on the faces of the ponies in the caverns as she first arrived didn't seem to extend to these ponies. They seemed focused on their tasks, diligently slicing mushrooms and peeling potatoes, preparing a stew that would feed the entire population, Applejack surmised.  
As she finished her meager meal, she caught Apple Bloom's gaze. An inscrutable look was on her face as her eyes scanned her up and down, as if trying to work out a puzzle to which she was missing half the pieces. Finally, she spoke up.  
"What happened to you? What do you y'all 'member about how you got here?"  
Applejack swallowed the last morsel and put her chin on her hoof, staring into nothingness as she cast her mind back.  
"I was out in the orchard, checkin' on the apples. It was early summer, an' the fruits were jus' beginnin' to appear on the branches. I remember thinkin' that it was gonna be a bumper year for us, when, suddenly, everythin' jus' went black.  
"When I woke up, at firs' I didn't remember nothin'. I jus' thought I had laid down t' take a nap, until my vision cleared and I saw I wasn't nowhere I'd ever been before. At first I thought I was back in Appleoosa, what with how dry and desert-like everythin' looked. My head was pounding, like I'd been hit on the temple with a sledgehammer, or had been out all night drinkin' cider with Big- er, drinkin' cider.  
"I didn't know what in the hay had happened, but I knew that I had t' find ponyfolks, or at least some shelter, so I set off in the direction that looked most promisin'. That's when I ran into your patrol. And that thing..."  
Apple Bloom nodded at the mention. "They're Windigoes. At least, that's what we've taken to callin' them."  
"But, I thought Windigoes were nothin' but an old pony tale, somethin' to tell on Hearth's Warmin' to teach little foals to be all friendly-like."  
Apple Bloom sighed, looking at the scratched tabletop that had seen the effects of many meals prepared on it. "I wish they were jus' myths, but they're not. We still don't know where they came from, or why they invaded Equestria, or why they chose now t' attack us. Nearest we can figure, if the stories have any truth to them 'tall, is that Equestria used t' be their land, and they decided to take it back."  
Applejack gulped, but nodded slowly. "I still somehow can't make myself believe this is all true, that this is really happenin'. If I had read this in an adventure book I'da chucked it for bein' too crazy. But... here I am. An' here you are." She sighed. "I guess I'll have t' make the best of it.  
Apple Bloom pressed on. "Think back sis. Before y'all fell asleep, did y'all see any flashes o' light? Hear any noises? _Smell_ anything out of th'ordinary?"  
Applejack furrowed her brow. "Come t' think of it, t'were somethin' I thought was a mite strange. I seem to recall the temperature suddenly droppin' a smidge, like the wind had picked up, 'ceptin' there wasn't no wind t' speak of.  
Apple Bloom's eyes showed the hint of a triumphant gleam. "So it was _them._ That does it. I wonder..." She let her voice trail off as she, too, gained a faraway look in her eye.  
"Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'? That if the other Elements o' Harmony... that if my friends disappeared the same time I did, and I'm here now, maybe they're out there, wanderin' the land, wonderin' what in the hay happened to them as well?"  
Apple Bloom looked at her with mild astonishment, to which Applejack beamed. "C'mon, I'm gonna go brief my scouts and let them know t' keep an eye out for them." With that, she stood up and heads towards the kitchen door. Applejack makes to follow, then stopped, and placed her empty plate in the stack of dirty dishes, before catching up to her sister.  
"What I don' understand." Applejack pulls up alongside Apple Bloom, trying to ignore the salutes ponies passing her cast in their direction. "Is, they were all in town when I disappeared, why didn' they land near enough to find them when they reappeared."  
"_If_ they reappeared." Apple Bloom corrected her, with a hint of resignation. "Well, for one thing, Ponyville is about a hundred miles south o' here. If you ended up so far from where you started, ain't no reason to reckon the same mightn't be true for th' others. They could be anywhere."  
Applejack mulled this over for a bit, then her ears perked up. "Tell your scouts t' be on the lookout for a gigantic, rainbow-colored explosion in th' sky."  
"A rainbow-whosit?" Apple Bloom stopped and looked at her perplexed, suddenly once again looking like nothing so much as the foal she remembered.  
Applejack just grinned. "If I know RD, she'll try'n signal help the best way she knows how."  
Apple Bloom just looked at her, until understanding hit her with a flash. Then, she immediately looked grim.  
"If she does try one of her Sonic Rain-thingies, we won't be th' only ones who see it. I only hope we can get to her before _they_ do."


End file.
